About the Project
LFP batteries are anticipated to dominate the global stationary energy storage market, with a demand exceeding 3,000 GWh by 2030, due to the increasing importance of clean energy technologies.
Without proper and effective management, end of life (EoL) LFP batteries may therefore pose an environmental threat (e.g. release of heavy metals or organic pollutants to the environment) on top of the strain caused by further depletion of finite critical energy raw materials. The development and establishment of robust and effective recycling solutions for LFP batteries is thus one of the most pressing global needs, with energy-related, economic, and ecological aspects.
Sunlight Group operates state-of-the-art LFP battery pack assembly plants in Greece, USA and Italy and is exponentially expanding its capacity, having reached 2.3 GWh of Li-ion batteries assembly capacity in 2023 and gearing for 5 GWh, to meet the market’s growing needs.
In addition to that, Sunlight plans to develop an LFP-focused battery cell production capacity of up to 20 GWh starting in 2026, while increasing its battery pack assembly capacity and thereby positioning itself as Greece’s largest and only battery cell manufacturer and of the top ones in Europe and worldwide.
The precursor to this Gigafactory is a production-scale Pilot Line for LFP lithium cells that Sunlight is installing in its Xanthi premises; a €130+m investment, with €49.9m funded by the EU as an IPCEI project and more than €80m in own funds. Expected to be commissioned in Q1 2024, the Pilot Line will develop the optimal LFP cell that will then be produced on an industrial scale.
With this exponential upcoming increase in production, along with the provisions of the upcoming EU Battery Directive for re-use and recycle, it becomes evident that Sunlight needs to explore all possible solutions for recycling Li-ion batteries.
ReLiFe Project targets to tackle this challenge by developing a sustainable recycling technology for LFP scrap and EoL LFP batteries. Sunlight Group together with Greenhouse Investment Group Ltd., TUBAF, HIF, Hatch-Küttner GmbH, Monolithos Ltd., and SE&C IKE will de-risk the LFP recycling process-flow and demonstrate it at pilot scale by the end of 2025.
More specifically, in 2023 the recycling process will be developed, established, and optimized at the laboratory scale via a series of thermal, mechanical treatment, and hydrometallurgical tests at TUBAF and HIF. In the meantime, Hatch-Küttner will elaborate the necessary engineering studies for the pilot plant and Greenhouse will carry out the preliminary business, IP, and risk studies. In 2024, the optimized technology will be validated at semi-pilot scale at Monolithos Ltd. facilities, and the process flow diagram will freeze. During the last year (2025), the pilot plant will be established in the industrial complex of Sunlight Group in Xanthi, the technology will be demonstrated and further optimized in accordance with the life cycle assessment, conducted by SE&C IKE. The results of the 3-year ReLiFe project will be used as a solid basis for the commercialization of an industrial scale LFP recycling plant in 2028.